Chateau Chillon

It is starting to look like spring outside, even though it's the end of February. It's still a little cold to start doing a lot of traveling, but we were really ready to get out for a little day trip. We headed over to Chateau Chillon, located on a small rocky island near the far end of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

Here I am at the postern gate at the castle's base level. This gate had access to the lake and allowed for delivery of goods by boat or for the escape of castle occupants when the need called. The little pamphlet guide says that this probably became an execution room in the 16th century. Eww.

This talk of execution brings me to the poem written by Lord Bryon, called The Prisoner of Chillon, which tells the tale of one man's captivity in the dungeon of Chateau Chillon. The castle has inspired other writers and artists from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Victor Hugo and Delacroix to Courbet.

In all, we spent about 3 hours wandering the rooms of the chateau, ending at the top of the keep. The keep, on the center of the island rock, is thought to date back to the 11th century, with the rest of the chateau having evolved around it. It was a neat to place to visit, even in February, with more to offer than I first thought.

Babies!

Before we moved to France, Max and I took a cross cultural training class. The instructor said that as our worlds and our selves were changing in France, we should remember that things would be changing "back home" too. I really began to realize this during our last trip back to the US.

Case in point, baby Colton, my cousin's adorable little boy. I got to meet him for the first time during our visit to Indiana. He's looking like his papa.

Then, during our trip back to Columbus, we stopped by to visit our friends who just had beautiful twin girls!

It took me a minute to really conceptualize that there were indeed two of them; seeing them side by side helped. Amazing.

And then there is this precious baby girl belonging to our friends in Cleveland. So many little ones, in just one year! Things certainly have changed while we've been away. We could not be happier for our friends and family with their new additions and we look forward to seeing more of them soon! (Please don't read anything more into this post than that people).

Christmas, Three Times Over

So, I flew back to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with my family (barely making it through Amsterdam) and Max flew to China for an unavoidable business trip for two and a half weeks. It really was a different kind of Christmas, but a good one none the less. Due to the timing of Max's trip, I was able to spend extra time in the US which actually worked out well, making the trip a lot less stressful than last year's home leave.

I felt lucky to have had the opportunity to spend some quality time with familly and friends over the holidays. Anna and Matt flew in from Maryland and my family and I were able to see them for a little while on Christmas day. (Matt didn't get the memo that he was supposed to wear red that day...keep up buddy).

After Christmas, my family and I took a trip down to Indiana to see my grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I hadn't seen them since before we had moved to France two years ago. It was really great to see everyone and the trip provided a much needed distraction from missing Max.

Then, NOT before I knew it, Max's business trip ended and he flew from China to Michigan after the New Year. We then got to celebrate Christmas a second and third time with him. He slowly adjusted to the 13 hour time change and we were able to spend the rest of our time in the US together visiting with friends and family.